Hinge clip



J.R.HAYNES June 25, 1968 HINGE CLIP Filed Nov. 14, 1966 INVENTOR.

JOE R. HAYNES A TTOENEY United States Patent 3,389,438 HINGE CLIP Joe R. Haynes, Cliamblee, Ga., assignor to Fisher-Haynes Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Nov. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 594,006 1 Claim. (CI. 24-84) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wire guard for a fluorescent lamp fixture is removably mounted on the fixture by means of a hinge clip of generally J-shaped configuration. The hinge clip comprises a base plate to the opposite side edges of which a biasing plate and a hinge plate are integrally secured. A hinge backing part is integrally secured to the hinge plate and disposed in spaced relation to a swivel part which also is integrally formed with the hinge plate so as to define therebetween a looped configuration for receiving a part of the wire guard. A clamping plate is integrally formed with the biasing plate and is arranged to grip a part of the fluorescent fixture between the biasing plate and the hinge backing part whereby a disjointable connection is provided between the hinge clip and the fluorescent fixture and a swivel hinge-like connection is provided between the hinge clip and the wire guard.

This invention relates to hinge clips and more particularly to a spring type clip which is specially devised to afford a disjointable hinge type connection for use in mounting guards such as are of wire mesh type construction and which are disjeintably mounted on fluorescent lamp fixtures and the like.

Reliable statistics show that great numbers of fluorescent typelamp tubes are either broken in their fixtures or are dislodged therefrom each year. Such lamps are broken due to collision with foreign objects and dislodgement of the lamps from their fixtures due to vibration from roof fans, machinery, low flying aircraft, building cranes and the like. Of course lamp breakage and dislodgment constitute a substantial hazard particularly in processing areas to persons, equipment and products being processed. Furthermore, falling lamps contaminate food or beverage when in a processing area, and a guard is required by health codes and by military standards as a preventive measure.

An effective means for protecting against inadvertent dislodgment. of fluorescent lamps from their fixtures can be provided by simply placing a wire mesh guard underneath the fixture as by mounting the guard to the fixture itself. Of course any guard mounted to a fluorescent fixture must be easily dismounted in order to accommodate replacement of dim or worn out fluorescent tubes.

A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved mounting means for wire guards used in conjunction with fluorescent lamp fixtures, the mounting means being specially adapted to afford a secure mounting for the lamp guard and also being readily and efficiently disjointable so as to facilitate replacement of a worn out or burned out fluorescent tube.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mounting means for wire guards used in conjunction with fluorescent fixtures which affords a hinged relationship between the guard and the fluorescent fixture so.

that the guard may be disconnected along either side thereof and hinged away from the fixture along the opposite thereby facilitating the replacement of fluorescent lamps when they become worn or burned out.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved hinge clip which may be used to form a readily disjeintable hinged connection along opposite sides of a 3,389,438 Patented June 25, 1968 ice wire guard whereby the guard may be hingedly mounted from either side thereof.

An improved hinge clip constructed according to the invention in one form comprises a base plate, a biasing plate having one edge thereof integral with an edge of the base plate and which is angular-1y disposed with respect thereto, a hinge plate having one edge integral with an edge of the base plate which is remote from the biasing plate and with at least a part thereof disposed in closely spaced generally parallel relation to the biasing plate whereby a part of a fixture such as a fluorescent lamp fixture may be securely gripped between the biasing plate and the hinge plate, a hinge backing part integral with the hinge plate and disposed along an edge of the hinge plate which is remote from the base plate, and a swivel part integral with the hinge plate and adjacent the backing part, the hinge backing part and swivel part being configured and interrelated so as to define a hinge knuckle structure adapted to receive a part of a wire guard for a fluorescent tube fixture whereby a hinged connection is afforded between a fluorescent fixture and the wire guard.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fluorescent fixture and its associated guard and wherein the wire guard is mounted by means of hinge clips constructed according to the invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a hinge clip constructed according to one form of the invention; FIG. 3 is a detailed fragmentary view in section taken along the line designated 3-3 in FIG. 1; and in which FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2 but taken from the opposite side of the clip.

With reference to the drawing the numeral 1 generally designates a fluorescent fixture while the numerals 2 and 3 generally designate a pair of fluorescent lamp tubes mounted in fixture 1. The numeral 4 generally designates a Wire guard mounted on fluorescent fixture 1 by means of hinge clips 5 and 6. Hinge clips 5 and 6 are constructed according to the invention and may take the form depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The hinge clip generally designated at 6 as is best shown in FIG. 3 is interrelated with the fixture 1 as depicted in FIG. 3. Of course the fixture 1 may take any number of forms and as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3 comprises a top plate 7 and a pair of oppositely disposed side plates 8 and 9. The hinge clip such as is generally designated at 6 forms a disjointable hinged connection between the wire guard generally designated by the numeral 4 and the sides such as 8 and 9 of the fixture generally designated at 1.

The hinge clip constructed according to this invention comprises a base plate 10 along one edge 11 of which a biasing plate 12 is integrally formed. A clamping plate 13 is integrally formed along an edge 14 of biasing plate 12 and preferably is provided with one or more gripping protrusions 15 and 16. Preferably clamping plate 13 is provided with a guide plate 17 formed integrally with clamping plate 13 along edge 13 thereof.

A hinge plate 19 is integrally formed along edge 29 of base plate 10 and a backing part 21 is formed integrally with the upper edge of hinge plate 19. A swivel part 22 is also integral with hinge plate 19. Swivel part 22 of binge plate 19 is provided with a looped part 23 and with a curved configuration 24 which diverges in a direction away from the base plate 10 so as to define with the backing part 21 an entry way whereby a wire such as 25 forming a part of guard 4 may he slipped downwardly between swivel part 22 and backing part 21.

In FIG. 3, the lamps 2 and 3 and guard 4 are shown in their service positions immediately below the bottom cover plate 26 forming a part of the fixture 1. Under these conditions of course the guard 4 serves to protect persons in the vicinity should lamps 2 or 3 become dislodged from their fixtures by simply preventing the lamps such as 2 or 3 from falling to the floor.

In order to replace lamps such as 2 and 3, of course it is necessary to swing the guard 4 into an open pOsition. To this end guard 4 is simply pushed upwardly along one side edge thereof to cause the wire 25 to move upwardly between the swivel part 24 and the backing part 21 of the hinge clips on one side of the fixture. Once the wire 25 is clear of the upper part of 24 and 21 of clips and 6, the guard is hinged downwardly and toward the right about the clips located on the right side of fixture 1 and not shown in FIG. 3. Thereafter lamps such as 2 and 3 may be replaced with new lamps and the guard 4 hinged in a clockwise direction about the clips on the right side of the fixture 1 to occupy the position shown in FIG. 3, it being necessary to move the wire 25 above swivel part 24 and backing part 21 and downwardly therebetween to occupy the position depicted in FIG. 3.

In order to mount the clips such as 5 and 6 initially, it is simply necessary first to remove the lamps 2 and 3 and the bottom cover plate 26. Thereafter each clip is inserted into a gripping relationship with one side wall such as 8 or 9 of fixture 1 and into the position shown best in FIG. 3. In this service position the hinge plate 19 is disposed on the outside of side wall 8 as are the swivel part 24 and the backing part 21. Of course the clamping plate 13 and the biasing plate 12 are disposed along the inside of each side plate such as 8 and 9. Preferably the gripping protrusions such as 15 and 16 are arranged so as to engage and grip the inner surface of one side wall such as 8 and 9.

Mounting of clips 5 and 6 is greatly facilitated if the clip is provided with a beveled guide plate such as 17 which is disposed at an outwardly diverging angle as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Of course the clip preferably is constructed of spring material and the dimensional relationship of the parts is such with respect to the thickness of side walls 8 and 8 as to capture the associated side wall between the hinge plate 19 and the clamping plate 17 as is clearly shown in FIG. 3.

From the description thus far it is apparent that all of the components of the hinge clip constructed according to this invention are integral with each other and that the clip is bodily removable if desired from the fixture by simply removing the fluorescent lamps 2 and 3 and then removing the bottom cover plate 26. Furthermore it is evident that the guard may be removed from the clips by simply forcing the top wire 25 thereof, which constitutes the hinge pin, upwardly sufificiently to clear the swivel part 24 and the backing part 21 of the clip. Of course, if the dimensions of the wire guard 4 are such that hinge pin wire 25 cannot be moved far enough in an upward direction to clear the top edges of swivel part 24 and backing part 21, the guard may be disconnected by simply removing the tubes 2 and 3 from their sockets into a lowermost position within the guard 4 and thereafter by disconnecting the bottom cover plate 26 sufiiciently to allow the hinge clips 5 and 6 to be disconnected from side wall 8 or 9 as the case may be.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, the invention is not limited thereto and it is intended in the appended claim to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A hinge clip adapted to be secured to a side of a fiuorescent lamp fixture so as to hingeably connect a guard of the wire mesh type thereto, said clip being formed from material having suitable spring characteristics and presenting a generally J-shaped appearance, said clip comprising a substantially fiat base plate adapted to fit under the bottom cover plate of an associated fixture and having the free end portions thereof bent back in the same direction at, respectively, acute and right angles to form a biasing plate adapted to be engaged against an inside surface of an associated fixture and a hinge plate adapted to normally engage against an outside surface of the fixture, said hinge plate having a portion thereof which lies in a plane parallel to an associated outside surface of the fixture and an end portion which is bent away from said plane to form, with said planar portion an arcuate hinge and a flared guide, said biasing plate having an end portion which lies substantially in a plane parallel to said plane and is disposed opposite said guard receiving hinge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,332,941 3/ 1920 Anderson. 1,484,321 2/1924 Brouillette et al. 2,329,894 9/1943 Hall 2481.3 2,657,442 11/1953 Bedford 248l.3 3,297,285 1/ 1967 Simmons.

FOREIGN PATENTS 486,608 9/1952 Canada. 876,743 9/1961 Great Britain.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner. 

